Wanborough is a large village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

in the

borough of Swindon The Borough of Swindon is a unitary authority area with borough status in Wiltshire, England. Centred on Swindon, it is the most north-easterly district of South West England. History The first borough of Swindon was a municipal borough, ...

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...

, England. The village is about southeast of

Swindon Swindon () is a town in Wiltshire, England. At the time of the 2021 Census the population of the built-up area was 183,638, making it the largest settlement in the county. Located at the northeastern edge of the South West England region, Swi ...

town centre. The settlement along the High Street is Lower Wanborough, while Upper Wanborough is on higher ground to the southwest. The parish includes the

hamlets A hamlet is a human settlement that is smaller than a town or village. This is often simply an informal description of a smaller settlement or possibly a subdivision or satellite entity to a larger settlement. Sometimes a hamlet is defined f ...

of Horpit (a short distance north of Wanborough) and Foxhill, to the southeast.

History

There was a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

settlement,

Durocornovium Durocornovium was a Roman town in Britain, situated on the Roman road between Corinium Dobunnorum (Cirencester) and Calleva Atrebatum (Silchester). In many ways Durocornovium was a typical small Roman town. Site The town, encompassing around 25 ...

, slightly northwest of the current village, at a road junction mentioned in the

Antonine Itinerary The Antonine Itinerary (, "Itinerary of the Emperor Antoninus") is an , a register of the stations and distances along various roads. Seemingly based on official documents, possibly in part from a survey carried out under Augustus, it describes t ...

. Being the last ''

vicus In Ancient Rome, the Latin term (plural ) designated a village within a rural area () or the neighbourhood of a larger settlement. During the Republican era, the four of the city of Rome were subdivided into . In the 1st century BC, Augustus ...

'' on

Ermin Way Ermin Street or Ermin Way was a Roman road in Britain. It linked Glevum (Gloucester) and Corinium (Cirencester) to Calleva ( Silchester). At Glevum it connected to the road to Isca (Caerleon), the legionary base in southeast Wales. At Cori ...

before the scarp slope of the

Marlborough Downs The North Wessex Downs are an area of chalk downland landscapes located in the English counties of Berkshire, Hampshire, Oxfordshire and Wiltshire. The North Wessex Downs has been designated as a National Landscape (formerly known as Area of ...

, Durocornovium was a site where horses were watered before the steep climb off the Oxfordshire plain. Wanborough is just off the

Ridgeway National Trail The Ridgeway is a ridgeway or ancient trackway described as Britain's oldest road. The section clearly identified as an ancient trackway extends from Wiltshire along the chalk ridge of the Berkshire Downs to the River Thames at the Gori ...

. Development in a strip along the road frontages characterised the village, which reached maximum development in the 4th century. Wanborough has been suggested as the site of the fortress of Guinnion, the eighth of the twelve battles of Arthur listed by

Nennius Nennius – or Nemnius or Nemnivus – was a Welsh monk of the 9th century. He has traditionally been attributed with the authorship of the ''Historia Brittonum'', based on the prologue affixed to that work. This attribution is widely considered ...

Historia Brittonum ''The History of the Britons'' () is a purported history of early Britain written around 828 that survives in numerous recensions from after the 11th century. The ''Historia Brittonum'' is commonly attributed to Nennius, as some recensions ha ...

In three charters of the ninth century Wanborough is recorded as ''Wenbeorg''. In the

Domesday Book Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

it is ''Wemberge'', the 'm' being an evident mistake for 'n'.Duignan, William Henry.
Notes on Staffordshire Place Names
', pp.vii-viii. London: Henry Frowde, 1902. The ''

Anglo-Saxon Chronicle The ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' is a collection of annals in Old English, chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxons. The original manuscript of the ''Chronicle'' was created late in the ninth century, probably in Wessex, during the reign of ...

'' records that a battle was fought in 592 AD between

Ceawlin Ceawlin ( ; also spelled Ceaulin, Caelin, Celin, died ''ca.'' 593) was a King of Wessex. He may have been the son of Cynric of Wessex and the grandson of Cerdic of Wessex, whom the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' represents as the leader of the fi ...

, King of

Wessex The Kingdom of the West Saxons, also known as the Kingdom of Wessex, was an Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy, kingdom in the south of Great Britain, from around 519 until Alfred the Great declared himself as King of the Anglo-Saxons in 886. The Anglo-Sa ...

and the Britons, at a place called ''Woddesbeorge'' or ''Wodnesbeorge'', ("

Woden Odin (; from ) is a widely revered god in Norse mythology and Germanic paganism. Most surviving information on Odin comes from Norse mythology, but he figures prominently in the recorded history of Northern Europe. This includes the Roman Emp ...

's borough"). This has given rise to considerable speculation as to whether the battle took place at Wanborough in Wessex, or in Staffordshire at

Wednesbury Wednesbury ( ) is a market town in the Sandwell district, in the county of the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England; it was historically in Staffordshire. It is located near the source of the River Tame, West Midlands, River Tame and ...

(''Wodnesbeorge'', or "

's borough"). The antiquarian and historian W. H. Duignan stated in 1902: "Now it is impossible it can be Wanborough ..'Wen' n ''Wenbeorg'' in the ninth century, could not represent an original Woden. There is only one Wednesbury in England ..nd I suggest that the ''Woddesbeorge'' of three versions of the Chronicle is an error for ''Wodnesbeorge''." Modern place-name scholarship tends to agree that the battle took place at Wednesbury. The alternative view is that the battle took place at

Adam's Grave Adam's Grave was a Neolithic British Isles, Neolithic long barrow near Alton Barnes in Wiltshire, southwest England. Its remains have been scheduled as an ancient monument. The barrow is considered to be of the Severn-Cotswold tomb type. These g ...

near Alton Barnes.

Parish church

The

Church of England parish church A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within each Church of England parish (the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative unit; since the 19th century sometimes ...

of Saint Andrew is unusual in having a spire at one end and a tower at the other. There are only three

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...

es with this feature in the UK. The others are at nearby

Purton Purton is a large village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in north Wiltshire, England, about northwest of the centre of Swindon. The parish includes the village of Purton Stoke and the hamlets of Bentham, Hayes Knoll, Purton Common ...

and at

Ormskirk Ormskirk is a market town in the West Lancashire district of Lancashire, England. It is located north of Liverpool, northwest of St Helens, Merseyside, St Helens, southeast of Southport and southwest of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. Ormski ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

Amenities

The village has a primary school but no shops. The village has five

public houses A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the late 17th century, to differentiate private ho ...

: The Brewers Arms; The New Calley Arms; The Cross Keys; The Harrow; and The Plough. There was a sixth pub called The Black Horse which closed in 2012. Foxhill had one public house, The Shepherd's Rest, which has re-opened as a restaurant serving Indian cuisine and renamed "The Burj". There is a monthly farmers' market in the village hall on the third Saturday of every month, except August where is replaced by the Wanborough Show.

King Edward's Place

Wanborough is the site of King Edward's Place, a country house once used as a private retreat for King

Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until Death and state funeral of Edward VII, his death in 1910. The second child ...

and his mistress

Lillie Langtry Emilie Charlotte, Lady de Bathe (née Le Breton, formerly Langtry; 13 October 1853 – 12 February 1929), known as Lillie (or Lily) Langtry and nicknamed "The Jersey Lily", was a British socialite, stage actress and producer. Born on the isla ...

. It was also the home of James "Jimmy" White (1877 – 1927), a financier, property developer, racehorse owner and speculator who committed suicide at the house by taking

Prussic acid Hydrogen cyanide (formerly known as prussic acid) is a chemical compound with the formula HCN and structural formula . It is a highly toxic and flammable liquid that boils slightly above room temperature, at . HCN is produced on an industrial s ...

. It continued as a racehorse stud, before becoming the main training centre for Swindon-based Allied Dunbar life assurance, subsequently taken over by

Zurich Insurance Group Zurich Insurance Group Ltd. is a Swiss insurance company, headquartered in Zürich, and the country's largest insurer. the group is the world's 98th largest public company according to ''Forbes'' Global 2000s list, and in 2011, it ranked 94th i ...

, who built a large modern conference centre adjacent to the older house. When Zurich discontinued having a direct sales force, the site became the De Vere Liddington hotel in 2008, before becoming insolvent in 2009 and being sold to PGL who operate the site as PGL Liddington, an activity centre for children.

References

External links

Wanborough Parish Council
{{authority control Civil parishes in Wiltshire Villages in Wiltshire Borough of Swindon